COMMISSIONERS BACK OFF ENDING DARE PROGRAM

Hours before a district court judge, the district attorney and concerned
parents beseeched them not to eliminate the DARE program, the Pasquotank
Board of Commissioners had already decided not to.

"Nobody I know knows more about law enforcement than (Sheriff) Randy
Cartwright, and if he says we need the DARE program, then we should have
it," board Chairman Matt Wood said at Monday's finance committee meeting.

Wood's words of support for the Drug Awareness and Resistance Education
program was a strong signal that county officials had backed off an earlier
proposal to scrap the $38,000-a-year program conducted by the sheriff's
department in the local schools.

It was Wood who originally floated the idea of eliminating the DARE
program. Several weeks ago in a newspaper interview, he said it was one of
several programs commissioners were considering cutting to balance next
year's budget.

County Manager Randy Keaton, who had recommended the idea to commissioners,
said eliminating DARE would not only save money; it also would be a way to
help Cartwright fill a vacant deputy position without violating the
county's current hiring freeze.

Under Keaton's proposal, DARE Officer Todd Wagner wouldn't lose his job.
Rather, he would be removed from his drug education duties in the schools
and reassigned to those held by other deputies in the department.

Keaton said he made the recommendation in part because of national studies
that question the effectiveness of DARE. Those studies, which have been
highly publicized, indicate that fifth-graders who graduate from the DARE
program are just as likely to use illegal drugs later on as fifth-graders
who do not receive the drug education.

Neither Keaton nor Cartwright have conducted any local studies to determine
DARE's effectiveness in the Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools. But
it was obvious from Monday's discussion with commissioners that Cartwright
is committed to the program.

"I wouldn't support doing away with the DARE program," Cartwright said.
"It's a hot item, people want it, and if we save three kids a year (from
starting to use drugs), it's worth the $38,000 we spend on it."

Cartwright, who also opposed cutting DARE when it was suggested to him last
year, said the program also has branched out from preventing drug abuse.

"DARE isn't just about drugs anymore; it also cuts down on violent assaults
and it gives kids a positive role model" to follow, he said. "We're talking
about a small amount of money for the good we get from it."

If those arguments weren't enough, Cartwright presented commissioners with
22 petitions containing the signatures of hundreds of county residents who
support keeping the DARE program. He also gave them 150 letters signed by
school children asking that the program not be eliminated.

Later Monday evening, District Court Judge J.C. Cole, District Attorney
Frank Parrish, Crimeline Board of Directors Chairman Jonathan Davenport and
DARE officer Wagner attended the commissioners' monthly meeting and spoke
in favor of continuing the program.

Asked Tuesday if commissioners had, in backing off eliminating DARE,
succumbed to political pressure, Commissioner John Kitchen said they
"pretty much" had.

However, that doesn't' mean Cartwright's sheriff's budget still won't be
cut $38,000, Kitchen said.

"I don't think we ought to be interfering with Randy Cartwright('s)"
operation of the sheriff's department, Kitchen said. "Let's just cut his
budget and leave it up to him" to decide what to cut.